The instant invention is generally directed to the field of archery, and archery arrows, and, more specifically to the field of vane structures for archery arrows to affect flight characteristics.
The laws uncovered through the study of aerodynamics have been applied in numerous fields to gain performance improvements. Such application have included the designs of airplanes, jets, missiles, rockets, automobiles, bicycles, boats, submarines, bullets, speed ice skaters, horse racing, as well as many more. One particular area of interest has been in the development and improvement of arrow designs.
There are hunters of all varieties, but there is a special sect of hunters that is quite unique. These are the bow and arrow hunters. They have their own reserved portion of the typical hunting season, and when you talk to them about it, they have a little gleam in their eye—like they know a secret that few others are aware of. Some have said that if you try it once, you will be hooked. What is it about hunting with a bow and arrow that draws certain people into that special nook of the sport of hunting? Is it the simplicity, is it the quietness, is it that it is closer to the way our ancestors had to survive? The answer may be different for every such hunter. However, one thing that is common to most bow and arrow hunters—they want their shots to count. And as such, they want arrows that are designed to get the job done. They want arrows that fly in a stable manner, and that are fast.
One of the key elements that affect flight speed and stabilization in an arrow is the structure of the vanes. Long before any degrees in aerodynamics were offered, hunters were putting vanes onto their arrows. Findings have verified that at least as early as 7000 BC hunters were attaching feathers to the end of an arrow as vanes. Vanes for arrows, which can be described as a guiding fin, are thus widely known in the art and have most likely been used since the inception of archery.
Vanes can be constructed out of natural materials, such as feathers or synthetic materials. Vanes are typically mounted parallel to the shaft of an arrow, in a plurality arrangement. Vanes provide in-flight arrow stabilization particularly in the hunting archery field, for hunting points or “broadheads.” Hunting points, with more weight, have long provided stabilization challenges. The traditional solution for increasing stabilization for broadhead laden arrows, has been to increase the size of the vanes. Although larger vanes have been successfully used to solve erratic flight/stabilization problems, their use has created additional limitations and problems. For instance, increased vane sizes tend to increase the overall weight of the arrow, which reduces arrow speed and, thus, its effectiveness. Furthermore, larger vane sizes may also create “clearance” problems with the arrow, and other parts of the bow or projectile device.
While it has long been a goal, in the archery field, as stated, to provide improved in-flight arrow stabilization, particularly when using arrow points with added weight, the prior art does not disclose any solutions to this problem utilizing vanes, or feathers, which are normally not of at least a four inch length or greater. The prior art clearly demonstrates a long-standing need for a durable, smaller arrow vane solution.
When practicing at a range, archers typically use a different arrow configuration than what would be used during a hunt. Generally, the broadheads used for hunting are heavier and more expensive. Using these broadheads at the range would dull the points thus decreasing their effectiveness. Thus, at the range archers typically use different points. The heavier broadheads typically required larger vanes whereas the smaller practice heads could get by with smaller vanes. As a result, arrow flight at the range can be significantly different from out in the field. What is needed in the art is an arrow structure that provides consistency in arrow flight, as well as look and feel, between the range and the field.
These, as well as other needs in the art are addressed in the various embodiments of the invention as presented herein.